Captain America: Brave New World isn’t the best or the worst MCU film. It has some genuinely fun action scenes. There’s a good political thriller buried in the overstuffed plot. Anthony Mackie did a really great job as Captain America, and as someone who is generally not a huge fan of Mackie, I’m happy to report that he really grew on me here.

Brave New World” (now playing in theaters), I expected more of the same, and that’s just about what I got, although “Brave New World” falls on the lower end of the MCU quality spectrum. It’s a mostly competent action movie with passable performances and a fleet but forgettable plot.

It makes sense that Marvel Studios, in dire need of a box office win to start off 2025, would turn to one of its tried-and-true franchises — Captain America. The first three films in the series were released during Marvel’s golden era.